Affordable accommodation in Canada has become a cause of worry for international students and it is leading to several scams coming in the news recently. Three students from different countries were robbed of thousands of dollars on fake accommodation promises made on phone and despite visiting the accommodation in person.
This kind of fraud is mainly being conducted through Facebook and the local police have warned the students to be wary of any such communications persuading them to close the deals in a hurry. Several universities provide support services to international students to procure quality and guaranteed accommodation if they meet the required criterion and fulfil certain conditions.
Many other countries have also witnessed similar scams and frauds being highlighted by international students. Ireland is one such country which has seen a rise of 30% in residence for international students related fraud. As per the Canadian anti-fraud centre, “the Asian community in Canada is being targeted by intimidating phone calls pretending to be from government representatives and police.”
Many organizations have raised fingers at the government’s inaction to frame proper policies regarding affordable accommodation for international students for the last 50 years.
It is advised to pre-book your accommodation in Canada only through trusted sources and organizations of repute that have been working in the field for a long time with a clean track record.